The petroleum industry is increasingly turning to heavy oil feeds such as heavy crudes, resids, coals, tar sands, etc. as sources for feedstocks. These feedstocks are characterized by high concentrations of asphaltene rich residues, and low API gravities, with some being as low as less than 0° API.
US Patent Publication No. 2008/0083650, US Patent Publication No. 2005/0241993, US Patent Publication No. 2007/0138057, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,660,157 describe processes, systems, and catalysts for processing heavy oil feeds. SDA units are typically used in refineries to extract incremental lighter hydrocarbons from a heavy hydrocarbon stream, whereby the extracted oil is typically called deasphalted oil (DAO) containing a minimal amount of asphaltenes, while leaving a residue stream behind that is more concentrated in heavy molecules and heteroatoms, typically known as SDA Bottoms, etc. In the prior art, the DAO from a SDA unit associated with an oil refinery is typically returned to the refinery for conversion to gasoline, jet fuel, etc. The SDA Bottoms can be combined with diluent, such as diesel fuel, for conversion to residual fuel.
There is still a need for improved systems and methods to upgrade/treat process heavy oil feeds, having reduced cooking, improved process flow and temperature distribution in the contacting zones as compared to the processes in the prior art.